CAAT E-News, November 2020

Beyond the Rhetoric of Reform: Saudi Arabia and the UK

Online webinar 6pm, Thursday 19 November – register now!

Join CAAT and a fantastic line-up of speakers next week to coincide with Saudi Arabia hosting the G20 international summit.

As the Saudi authorities try to use the event to brand themselves as progressive reformers, we’ll hear about the activists really driving change, many of whom remain locked up in Saudi jails. And we’ll learn more about the devastating impact of the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen, and the UK’s complicity in these abuses.

With Osamah Al-Fakih, from Yemeni-based Mwatana for Human rights,
Safa Al-Ahmad, Journalist, filmmaker, and Acting Director of ALQST, which works to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia, and
David Wearing, academic, writer, and a specialist in UK relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab monarchies.

Register now for this free event.

End SARS and UK support for Nigerian security forces

Following the End SARS protests to disband the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Nigeria, CAAT research revealed the training and support provided by the UK to Nigerian security forces. The government initially denied the links but was later forced to admit that some of this training had been provided to SARS.

Paying For The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted our understanding of how fast we can make changes to public spending when the political will is there. New research from the Transnational Institute, TNI, makes ten proposals on how to pay for the costs of the pandemic and achieve a just transition to a better world.

TNI's research has found that reclaiming 10% of global military spending could raise $191.7 billion a year globally. Choosing welfare over warfare is a critical part of finding the funds to tackle climate breakdown and global injustice. Read more and share the video on your social media

500 new arms export licences to Saudi Arabia

This week we learned that the Government has issued more than 500 new export licences for arms sales to Saudi Arabia since July. The government had been forced to stop issuing new licences following CAAT’s legal action to stop the sales last year.

It is disgraceful that the government has pushed through so many new arms sales, which will only prolong the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. CAAT's new legal action challenges this: we must stop the sales once and for all.

Thank you for your support,

Emma

Campaign Against Arms Trade